Who's the Tiny One?
by totallyrandomwigs
Summary: Until they found the Tesseract, Natasha Romanoff had never mentioned her sister to anyone at SHIELD. But perhaps Nikita Romanoff is just the person they need. She certainly ruffles a few feathers, but before she can discover the secrets of the Tesseract, things start to go very wrong. Her obnoxious half-brothers' advice certainly doesn't help. Go on. Review. You know you want to.
1. Chapter 1

**1.**

_**Hello everyone. I'm quite new to writing fanfics, and I don't get too many reviews. I'd love to know what you think, so please R&R. Once I've got at least 2 reviews for this chapter, I'll upload another one. **__** Btw Italics are flashbacks. **_

Clint Barton was perched precariously on a balcony two stories up. It was a cold evening, and getting late. His keen eyes scanned the ground below. No sign of her yet. He glanced down at the picture Natasha Romanoff had given him earlier that day.

'_Who am I looking at?' He queried. _

'_My sister.' Natasha replied bluntly. 'We haven't been in touch for several years,' she continued, in reply to his _I didn't know you had a sister_ look. 'Recently we met up again. She's a scientist, and I suggested to Fury that she might be able to help us with our…' she nodded at the building behind them, '…problem.' She's arriving later today. I was hoping you could meet her, show her around…keep an eye on her. That sort of thing.'_

_Clint nodded. He wasn't surprised Natasha hadn't told him about her sister. She never mentioned her childhood. Ever. She never talked about family. Someone who didn't know her might think she was completely uninterested in her sister's well-being, but Clint detected a hint of concern and worry for her baby sister beneath the cold, unmoving exterior. It was nice to see her human side for once. He turned the photo over. There were two names scribbled on the back, Kita Romanoff and Nicky Holmes. _

'_Which name do I use?' he asked curiously. _

'_Either. She lived with her father after…she lived with her father. His surname was Holmes, and they used to call her Nicky. Her real name is Nikita. We used to call her Kita. I don't know which one she goes by. I still call her Kita. Anyway, if you could meet her I'd appreciate it.'_

'_Why, are you going somewhere?'_

'_Yes. I've got to collect some information. I may be a while.' Natasha smirked. 'I have to go. She should be coming sometime this morning.'_

That was at 10:30 am. It was now 6:45 pm, and Clint's legs were starting to ache and cramp again. He stood up, trying to get the circulation going in his legs again. For want of anything better to do, it studied the photograph again. It was crumpled, slightly tatty photo, and he got the impression Natasha carried it around a lot.

'More than a mug shot than anything,' he thought to himself. The girl depicted in the photo was looking straight at the camera, wide eyed, not a hint of a smile on her lips, red hair dishevelled. You wouldn't have thought she and Natasha were sisters if it hadn't been for the hair, the red curly hair. Even then, Natasha's was always perfect and expertly styled. This girl, Nikita, looked like she hadn't bothered to brush it, let alone style it. Clint suspected she'd hastily run her fingers through the hair just prior to having the photo taken. Her hair ended a couple of inches above her shoulders, sticking out every which way over her forehead and falling in her eyes. Her large eyes dominated her rather thin face. That was another way in which she differed from Natasha. She had a thin, childish figure, and Clint guessed she'd be considerably shorter too. Her left eye was the same blue as Natasha's eyes, but the right was a dark brown, giving her an odd, lopsided look.

Clint yawned and looked at his watch, his attention momentarily diverted. He looked back down and jumped. Standing almost directly beneath stood the girl he'd been waiting for. She was just standing, stock still, looking up. Clint didn't like being surprised like that. Where on earth had she come from?

He simply stepped off the balcony, landing flawlessly with a soft _thump _directly beside the girl. She gave no reaction, merely raised an eyebrow.

'Nikita Romanoff, I presume.' Clint broke what promised to be a long, awkward silence. 'Or do you prefer Nicky Holmes?'

'Either. I'm not fussy.'

'Clint Barton,' Clint extended a hand. ''Tasha asked me to meet you.' The moment he let slip with Natasha's nickname, Clint could have kicked himself. Nikita's eyebrows flickered but she said nothing.

'Anyway,' Clint continued brusquely, 'I'll take you to meet Fury, and then you can get right to work. You're late.'

'I know I missed the train. Twice. Who's Fury?'

Clint turned around in surprise. 'You don't know who Nick Fury is?'

'No. Natasha mentioned him though.'

'You'll learn soon enough. Let's just say he's in charge around here.'

Nikita had been expecting her sister to meet her. Their first meeting after all those years had been awkward to say the least, and even now they were fairly reserved with each other. Natasha had grown into everything Nikita had expected – confident, beautiful, dangerous. 'He's just the sort of person she'd have for a friend,' Nikita thought to herself. 'The strong, silent type, face like a Greek statue. Blooming typical.'

A long pause ensued. Clint led the way along winding corridors, through rooms not unlike hospital rooms, only without all the people.

'What do you do here?' Nikita said eventually.

'Do you mean what do _I _do here, or what this building is for?'

'Both, really.'

'Nick Fury will explain what's going on here; he'll do it better than I can.'

'Well, I hope so, because I haven't the foggiest idea of what is going on and therefore I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. I might not be able to help you.'

'Natasha seemed pretty confident that you could help us.'

'You still haven't said what you do here.'

'Security.'

Nikita waited, but it became clear it wasn't going to elaborate. She toyed with the idea of asking him if he was in the same line of work as Natasha, but decided against it. Another awkward silence descended on them. Nikita determined she wasn't going to be the one to break it this time.

Clint caught sight of a tall man, dressed entirely in black, with an eye patch. A tall, dark haired woman was standing to attention behind him. 'That's Nick Fury.' He told Nikita, heading towards him. 'And that's agent Maria Hill.'

Nick Fury had completely forgotten about the scientist Natasha Romanoff had recommended. He'd been sceptical. He'd agreed to have her here because they were running out of options. There was a good chance she'd end up being like Natasha, a loose cannon, or a liability. He'd expected at least that she'd look a bit like agent Romanoff, so he was very surprised with the small young woman scurrying after Barton, who was walking purposefully towards him.

'Nikita Romanoff, I presume,' he began, unconsciously imitating Clint.

'Yes, that me.' Nikita ran her fingers through her hair, messing it up further. Nick sized her up. She wasn't beautiful like Natasha, nor was she as cool and poised. She still had that same cocky air, and of course the hair. He couldn't imagine her being much good in fist fight either.

As he concluded his mental appraisal, Nick realised with a shock Nikita was sizing him up as blatantly as he was her.

'Well, do you have some work for me to do?' Nikita sharply interrupted his thoughts.

Maria Hill drew in her breath sharply. 'Show some respect!' she snapped.

'Look,' Nikita continued as if Maria had not spoken, 'I've no idea why I'm here. If I can help, I'll get stuck in immediately. If not, then both of us are wasting our time. So the sooner you let me in on what's going on the better for both parties.'

Maria was furious, but Nick laughed quietly, folding his arms. Clint's face was blank as usual. 'Can't argue with you on that one, ma'am.' Nick replied calmly. 'Take a walk with me and we'll discuss it. You can tell she's agent Romanoff's sister.' He addressed the last part to Maria and Clint, the former of which looked highly displeased.

Nick Fury and Nikita walked away, Maria and Clint following slightly behind. 'She won't last five minutes.' Maria muttered. 'Insolent Brit.'

'Technically she's Russian. Nick seems to like her.'

'Mark my words, she won't last long. Once she realises what this is all about, or gets to work on that thing, she'll soon give up.'

'You want to bet?'


	2. Chapter 2

**2.**

_**Well, thank you for the reviews! Here's the second chapter, I hope you like!**_

'I imagine you've heard of Tony Stark.' Nick began immediately.

'Yes.'

'Well, recently he fished something interesting out of the ocean. We simply can't figure it out. Agent Romanoff recommended you because you are an expert in gamma radiation. One of the best.'

'Not _the_ best.' Nikita chipped in.

'No,' Nick smiled grimly, 'we know who the best is, and hopefully we won't need him. You're also very familiar with almost every form of energy known to man.'

'Yup.' Nikita replied cheerfully.

'Then I think you can help us.' Nick led her along a narrow bridge across a vast warehouse. He stopped in the middle and pointed down. Nikita almost imperceptibly tightened her jaw. Dozens of white-coated men and women rushed around like ants, zigzagging around large complicated machines, all of which were whirring and clacking at top speed. Nikita's eyes flicked around swiftly, trying to make sense of the chaos. In the centre of the room, surrounded by all sorts of scanners and monitors and a little crowd of white-coated scientists, there was a smallish blue cube. Nikita couldn't fathom what it was, but she had a feeling it was alive, somehow. It glowed and hummed, refusing to give up its secrets to the desperate scientists milling around it.

'That's why you've called me here.' she said aloud, pointing at the blue cube. Surprise flickered across Nick's face, but he quickly banished it.

'Yes. Well done, Dr Romanoff. The blue cube is what we fished out of the sea. It's called the Tesseract.'

'What is it?'

'An extraterrestrial energy source.'

'How did it come to be here?'

'We don't know. It was found in the 1940s, and we sunk it in the ocean. As I said, it was recently fished up.'

Several questions flicked through Nikita's mind. Why did you sink it? Why on earth did you drag it up again?

'What are you going to use it for?' she asked aloud. Plenty of time to find out the answers to the other questions later. She didn't imagine she'd get a satisfactory answer by asking Fury anyway.

'The Tesseract could be a source for clean, free energy for all mankind for millenniums to come.' He replied brusquely.

_Liar._ Nikita thought. _You're a liar. _Her brain ticked as she continued to study the scene below. _If he's lied to me about what they're using it for, then clearly they plan to really use it for something bad, something they know I'd refuse to help them with. What? If it really is an energy source – it must be. They'd know I'd find out straightaway if it wasn't – then my best guess would be that they want to use it to make nuclear weapons. Just what the world needs. More nuclear weapons. _Out of her peripheral vision she noticed Clint and Maria still standing there, stock still. _Do they know? Does Natasha know? _

She glanced up briefly to see Nick Fury studying her intently. Nikita was suddenly very aware of how high this bridge was. The appeared to be a locked iron gate at the opposite end of the bridge, and Clint and Maria were blocking the other end. Nick Fury stood between her and the opposite gate. Nikita suddenly had a feeling that to refuse this little job offer would be extremely unwise. Of course, this wouldn't be the first time she'd been threatened, directly or indirectly, from prospective employers. But secretly she was curious. What was this Tesseract? What plans did they have for it? If it really was extraterrestrial, then they were on risky ground.

'Ok. I'll do it.'

Nick instructed Clint to take her down and introduce her to the head scientist. Maria left with Fury, and Nikita could almost feel the hostility from the other woman's eyes boring into her.

The machines seemed much bigger and noisier up close. Nikita mentally listed what each one was specifically for, and what correlation it might have to the cube. That way she figured out for herself practically everything that had been learned so far about the Tesseract.

'This is Dr Erik Selvig,' Clint pointed to a grey-haired man standing by himself with folded arms.

'Dr Selvig,' he called, 'This is Dr Nikita Romanoff.'

'Ah yes,' Dr Selvig approached them and smilingly extended his hand. 'We've been expecting you, Dr Romanoff. Your sister speaks highly of you.'

Nikita gave a half-smile. 'I'm sure. Please call me Nikita. So, what's going on here?' she pointed to a machine which was beeping frantically.

'Well – call me Erik, by the way – yes, this is a…' he launched into a long scientific explanation. Clint rolled his eyes and moved away.

Erik and Nikita got on well. He found her well-informed and deeply interested in just about everything. He found he preferred her to Natasha. Nikita was less perfect, more human. She wasn't cool and calm and in control. She was clumsy; she knocked things over with her elbow and tripped over and the like. She even laughed at his spectacularly bad jokes.

Days passed and turned into weeks. Nikita lived on the premises and ate, breathed and slept her work. She hadn't spoken to Maria Hill or Fury since the first day. She'd seen them again, from a distance. Fury looked through her and Maria tried to pretend she couldn't remember Nikita. Clint seemed to spend his time perched up out of sight, she could usually spot him, and he always seemed to be watching her intently. They got on well; Nikita soon got used to his gruff, sharp manner. He even brought her a cup of tea every now and again (she didn't like coffee).

Erik watched and smiled.

'Did you know agent Barton before you came here?' he asked one day.

Nikita shook her head. 'I didn't know anyone here.'

'Well, he seems to like you. And he's not a particularly friendly person.'

'I suppose I remind him of Natasha. I heard they're pretty close.'

Erik shrugged. 'Not that close.' Truth be told, he thought agent Romanoff would be rather displeased with how much Clint seemed to like Nikita, when she finally came back. Natasha had had monopoly of Barton for far too long. She'd always taken him for granted, and Erik felt almost sorry for Clint. He didn't really deserve to be treated like that, and after all he'd done for Natasha.

'I meant to ask you,' he began, changing the subject, 'doesn't your name mean something in Russian? I'm presuming you were born in Russia, like agent Romanoff.'

Erik would never have dared to even ask that sort of question to Natasha or Clint, but he felt comfortable with Nikita.

'Yes, I lived there till I was…nearly eight, I think.' She replied thoughtfully. 'After…well, then I lived with my father in London. My name means 'people's victory'. It's a Russian boy's name.'

Erik snorted.

'It's not funny! My mother was absolutely convinced I was going to be a boy. She picked the name, got all the blue clothes and little toy cars and goodness knows what else. Then I came along, and _surprise_! Mama decided to stick with Nikita, and every single photograph of me when I was a child is me in blue with short hair.'

Nikita grinned, Erik was laughing himself sick.

'Fortunately,' she continued, 'my favourite colour is blue, and I was never a girly girl.'

Clint was poised on a narrow railing high up, directly above Erik and Nikita. He wasn't eavesdropping exactly, but he couldn't help overhearing. He gave a little smile to himself. The weeks he'd spent getting to know Nikita…well, he'd enjoyed himself more than he had for a long time. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but he didn't want Nikita to go. He wasn't just being nice to her because Natasha asked him to; he was getting to know Nikita for her own sake. Uninvited, a little voice piped up in the back of his head, 'You haven't thought about Tasha at all since _she's _been here.'

He shook his head to get rid of the annoying voice. Then his attention was distracted by the cube. What distracted him he couldn't tell. Nothing was changed, yet the atmosphere seemed…he couldn't put his finger on it. 'Better keep an eye on that cube.' Clint thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**3.**

_**Righty-ho, here's chapter 3. Once again, I'd like to know what you think on this, so please R&R (once I've got 2 more reviews, I'll update again). Btw please chip in if you've got any ideas or suggestions. **_

Nikita stopped. She was striding past the cube, heading towards to a beeping machine to take some readings. What stopped her she couldn't say. Erik noticed Nikita standing stock still, staring intently at the cube.

'Nikita?' he called curiously.

Nikita jumping slightly and gave her head a slight shake. She continued on her way, giving Erik a sheepish smile.

'What is it?' he asked, frowning.

'Just me being silly. A funny feeling, you know.'

'What do you mean? I haven't noticed anything different.'

'Oh, not different _per se_, nothing I can put my finger on. What do you think it is? Fury said it's an energy source, but it's more than that, I'm sure.'

'Yes, you're right. It _is_ an energy source, but that's only one of its uses. I think it's a doorway.'

'A doorway to what? Or where, more like.'

'I don't know. Somewhere in space, I presume. Obviously we won't learn more till we learn to open the door.'

Nikita chewed her fingernails. 'If it's a door,' she murmured, half to herself, 'then we're in trouble.'

Erik stopped what he was doing. 'And why is that?'

'Well, doors open from both sides.'

'…Doors open from both sides.' Clint said to Erik. 'Funnily enough,' Erik gave a tense laugh, 'Nikita said that exact same thing to me yesterday.'

Clint glanced up at Nikita, who was scurrying between several computers, mumbling to herself and running her hands through her already messy hair (which Clint had long since realised was a nervous habit of hers). She looked up and made eye contact. _What's going on? _Clint mouthed at her. She shrugged and dashed off.

Clint was about to follow her, but a sudden, sharp flash of light from the cube stopped him in his tracks. Everyone in the laboratory froze. The cube flashed, glowed, and what looked like lightning flew out in a straight line from the centre of the cube. Nikita instinctively dived behind a computer, and peered around the hard drive. Her eyes widened. A man was standing there, where the light from the cube had been just a few seconds ago. _A doorway through space. _The silence was oppressive, but gave Nikita the few seconds she needed to size up the intruder. He was tall, very tall, with long black, rather greasy looking hair. He had a black leather coat (well, it _looked _like leather), piercing blue eyes, and he was very pale (not surprising, with all that black).

'Put the spear down.' Nick Fury's voice echoed across the room.

_Idiot, _thought Nikita. _It's not a spear. _It looked like one, tall, with a curved, pointed end. But there was a circle of blue light near the tip which glowed just like the cube. _It's got something to do with the cube, _Nikita thought, _maybe that's how he got here. The stick thingy has some of the Cube's power._

With no warning whatsoever, the man launched himself from where he was standing. The soldiers surrounding Fury opened fire, but the man deflected them with his stick…thingy.

Nikita watched aghast as he threw men away left right and centre. He was hideously strong, and any bullets lucky enough to meet their target had no effect.

Nikita had no idea what to do. He seemed to have flattened all opposition. Where Clint, Erik or Fury was, Nikita didn't know, and right now, she was only concerned about getting away. She looked around furtively, trying not to attract any unwanted attention. A small, rectangular black stick lying on a desk a little way away caught her eye. _The memory stick. _She'd compiled all of their information on the Cube and put it on the memory stick, just in case. Truth be told, she done it secretly in case she ever need to, you know, blackmail anyone. _Whatever this bloke is going to do, _she thought, _it does not look good; bearing in mind he just killed a few dozen people with a pointy magic stick. If he came through the cube, maybe…I don't know. I could do with that memory stick. I've got a feeling it's going to be every bit as useful as I hoped._ There was one problem. The desk was only a few yards away, but for those few yards she would be completely exposed.

Nikita risked a peek around the corner of her hiding place. The man had his back to her. She quickly scooted out on her hands and knees and, as silently as possible, shuffled over to the desk, reached up and grabbed the memory stick. The man suddenly turned and caught sight of her. She froze. He froze, she saw him stiffen, just as he had before he jumped and attacked Fury and his men. But he didn't attack.

They regarded each other for a mere second, which Nikita was completely sure had lasted a millennium. She remained on her hands and knees, left hand resting on the desk with memory stick still in its grasp. Nikita gave a weak cough and an awkward smile.

'Afternoon.' She ventured.

He raised an eyebrow.

'What is that?' he gestured with his stick to the memory stick.

Nikita followed his gaze to her own hand. 'This?'

He nodded.

'It's, um, well, it's a sort of, you know, a memory stick.'

He frowned. 'And what is a…memory stick?'

'It, er, stores memory…on a stick.' Nikita mentally slapped herself.

'I see.' His expression said that he didn't. 'What _memory _is _stored _on the…stick?'

Nikita had a feeling that to disclose that she had stored all information they had gathered so far about the cube on the stick would be unwise.

'Oh, this is and that.' she replied vaguely. 'Ooh,' she quickly changed the subject. 'I haven't introduced myself. How rude. I'm Nikita.'

The man's face twitched slightly, as if he was debating how to answer. 'My name is Loki.' He replied grandly, after a minute or two.

'Nice to meet you...Loki. If, er, it's not a rude question, what…erm…what are you doing here?' Nikita ventured cautiously.

Loki drew himself up to his full height. 'I am here to rule this planet.' He announced proudly.

'Oh. Right.' There really wasn't much one could say to that. 'Well, good luck with that. Hope it goes well for you.'

Loki was looking more and more perplexed, and Nikita's left leg was starting to cramp.

A movement caught her eye. Clint was dragging himself to his feet behind Loki. He looked up and met her eye. There was definite fear there, but Nikita was sure she saw relief in his eyes when he saw she was still alive, quickly to be replaced by horror that she was conversing with the mad alien.

Loki followed her gaze, unfortunately. Clint leapt up and attempted to hit him, but Loki intercepted the hit and cruelly bent Clint's arm back. Nikita used the opportunity to dive back to her hiding place, and frantically scrabbled around for a gun, or something heavy, or anything at all. Under his breath – Nikita might not have heard it – Clint murmured, 'Don't you dare hurt her.'

Loki laughed derisively. 'You have heart.' was his only answer. He brought up his stick and rested the point on Clint's chest. For one heart-stopping moment Nikita thought he was going to impale him on it. Instead, the blue circle glowed, and minute blue sparks travelled up to Clint's neck, across his face to his forehead, and then his eyes glowed blue, the same blue as the Cube.

Loki let go of Clint's arm, and it dropped down his side. Loki stepped back, and Clint did not move to attack, or move at all. Instead, he coolly knelt down, retrieved his gun. Loki allowed him.

_Mind control,_ thought Nikita, edging towards the door. Loki turned to face her, grinning. She swallowed nervously.

'You, too, have heart, Miss Nikita.'

'I do, don't I,' Nikita replied, trying to sound unconcerned, like Natasha would. It wasn't working. Her voice sounded too high-pitched and strained. 'By the way, well done on getting my name right. First time, too. Most people don't.' she continued. Loki advanced, holding the glowing pointy stick thingy in front of him, and she backed away.

'I could do with your help,' he smiled, 'wouldn't you like to help?'

'Love to, but I'd rather have my mind to myself, thank you very much.' She indicated the glowing stick.

Loki smiled. 'Well done. You worked it out. You are clever.'

'Well, yes, I am. Can't argue with you there. Well, anyway, this really has been fun, but I must be going.'

Loki raised his eyebrows. 'So soon?'

'Yes, unfortunately. I'm meeting my sister for dinner…' she briefly checked her watch, '…about fifteen minutes ago. Never mind, she'll probably be late.'

Nikita was still too far from the main exit, but there was a narrow door, partly hidden by a curtain, just to her right, and Loki didn't seem to have seen it. It was usually locked, and Nikita didn't know where it led, but it was slightly ajar.

Loki advanced further.

Nikita ran her fingers through her hair 'Well, this really has been one of life's true pleasures. Toodles.'

And with that she darted to her right through the door, slamming it shut behind her. Loki gave a roar of rage. She was in total darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

Nikita leaned against the door, gasping for breath. Something heavy slammed into the door behind her, flinging her forward into a wall. She banged her head hard, and she reeled for a second or two, and then slumped to the floor. She still couldn't see a thing, her head throbbed, and she felt as if she was spinning around and around. She knew Loki would have the door down any minute now. She tried to drag herself to her feet but she was too dizzy, she simply dropped back down to her knees again. A wave of resignation swept over her.

'Please don't.'

That was Loki's voice. The banging had stopped. Nikita frowned. He wasn't talking to her.

'I still need that.'

Who on earth was he talking to? Nikita carefully got to her feet.

'This doesn't have to get any messier.' Came Nick Fury clear, deep voice.

'Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else.' Loki replied.

Nikita wondered what Fury was trying to take. She knew she should move off. A sliver of light was coming under the door, and Nikita's eyes were beginning to get used to the darkness. She reached out and touched the opposite wall, keeping both hands on both walls. There was a narrow corridor to the left of the door, but it was entirely dark. Not a speck of light. Outside, Loki was introducing himself to Fury. Suddenly she heard Erik's voice. At least he was alive.

'We have no quarrel with your people.' Fury's voice came again.

'An ant has no quarrel with a boot.' Loki retorted. Nikita winced. Ouch. Fury wouldn't like that. He didn't like to feel or be referred to as small and insignificant in any way. Loki rambled on. It seemed he wasn't joking about ruling the planet.

'I come with glad tidings…of a world made free.'

'Free from what?'

'Freedom.'

Nikita snorted. _He's going to be a bundle of laughs, I can tell._ Loki rambled on further. _Wow. This bloke is really boring. If he does end up ruling the world, I hope we don't have to listen to his speeches._

'Sir, Director Fury is stalling.' That was Clint. 'This place is about to blow…' Nikita couldn't catch the rest.

'He's right,' Erik's voice came again. 'The portal is collapsing in on itself. We've got two minutes before this goes critical.'

_Uh oh. Time to go._ There was a gunshot, and Nikita heard Fury yell. She didn't dare go to see if he was OK, she just began to run as fast as she dared down the dark corridor. After about a minute of frantic, blind running, she collided with a ladder, and climbed as fast as she could.

At the top of the ladder, Nikita banged her head (again!) on a metal covering. Thankfully it was loose, and she pushed it away and stuck her head up. She instantly ducked down again as a large black four-by-four bore down on her. Nikita hesitantly looked out. She was in the middle of a road, outside the building. She turned and gasped. Loki was on the back of that four-by-four. She guessed – correctly, as it turned out – Clint and Erik were also in the car. She hauled herself out of the hole, sensibly replaced the cover, and limped over the side of the road. No sooner had she sat down than Nikita watched with horror as the building in front of her collapsed in on itself with a blue explosion. A single helicopter rose above the wreckage, having made it in the nick of time. Nikita squinted. Was Nick Fury in there? Probably not, it sounded like he'd been shot. _Now what? _She thought in despair. This was bad news, this Loki fellow. _I suppose this isn't something I can just walk away from. Although…they don't really need me. I bet you any money they're not going to _pay_ me. What about Clint?_ She paused, biting her lip, torn between two courses of action.

'_Just go,' _whispered the criminal inside her. '_They might try and pin this on you. Don't forget, you know what they really wanted the Cube for. Nuclear weapons, remember? I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't.'_

'_No, no, _no_!' _the other side of her personality, the honest scientist, shouted. _'What about Clint? Are you going to abandon him…wherever he is? And Erik! If this Loki guy really is going to try and take over the world or whatever, Erik and Clint are exactly the sort of people he needs. You have to stay. The world needs you!'_

Nikita gave a short laugh. "The world needs you". Rubbish. She'd disappear, like she always did when she got into trouble. They wouldn't miss her; they didn't want her here anyway.

Nick Fury looked down from his helicopter, high above the wreckage. He looked down wearily. Millions of dollars gone down the drain. And all they'd done is bring a…a…mad, power-hungry alien here! Movement down on the ground caught his eye. A girl was sitting on the verge of the road a little way away from the destruction and chaos. It was the hair that did it. He immediately got his walkie-talkie out.

'Hill?'

'Yes, Director?'

'It seems Dr Romanoff has found the alternative exit out of the lab. You know where she'll be?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Go get her.'

Maria Hill hesitated. She disliked Nikita and didn't want her to be in on whatever was going to happen next.

'Well…do we really need Dr Romanoff, sir? Several scientists have already survived and are fit to work. I suggest we just let her go.'

'No,' Fury snapped. He was in pain, tired, and majorly stressed out. He also, unsurprisingly, had a headache coming on. 'I don't have the time or patience to deal with your petty rivalries, Hill. We. Need. Nikita. Romanoff. Next to Erik Selvig, she's the best person we could have. Also, she has something very important. A memory stick.'

Maria Hill set her jaw to keep from making a remark. An order was an order. 'Yes Director.'

'Get a move on. I have a feeling she might try and run for it. Bring her to me when you get her.'

Maria Hill felt slightly better. Nikita had tried to run for it when she saw her coming. Tired as she was, and despite what she'd just been through, trying to stop Clint and Loki escaping, Maria still easily outstripped Nikita, and tackled her to the ground. She'd then forcibly dragged the furiously protesting scientist all the way back to the van in which Nick Fury had set up an office to sort out the chaos. She manhandled Nikita into the van, deposited her in an undignified heap on the floor, wrenched the memory stick out of her hand and passed it straight to Fury.

Fury fought back a smile. Nikita's face was as red as her hair, which was currently sticking up in every direction imaginable.

'There's no need for that face, Dr Romanoff.' Fury addressed her. 'You shouldn't have tried to run.'

'If looks could kill...' Maria interjected sweetly.

Nikita shot a truly evil look at her. 'You could have just asked for the memory stick.' She snapped.

Fury smiled. 'I could. But it's not just the memory stick I need.'

Nikita raised an eyebrow. 'Oh, you need my _help_ now, do you?'

'No. I need Erik Selvig's. But, as you can see, he's not here. You're the next best.'

He stopped, inspected the memory stick, twisting it between his fingers. 'Clever girl,' he commented, tapping it. 'Getting hold of this. _He_ didn't notice. I tried to take the Cube. That's what he's after.'

'Don't tell me,' Nikita said sarcastically, 'he did notice that.'

Fury nodded wryly. He indicated a hard plastic chair. '_Sit_.' He ordered.

Nikita was tempted to say she didn't want to _sit_, but considering she was still sprawled on the floor, with Maria Hill standing over her like a jailer, she decided a chair would be the more dignified option. 'What is it you want?' she asked. Once again, opting out of this job did not seem to be an option.

Fury was silent for a few moments. 'You hacked into my computer files.' He said bluntly.

Nikita drew in her breath sharply but said nothing.

'Didn't think we knew, did you?' Fury continued, his face unreadable as usual.

'How could you know? I didn't leave a trail.'

'No, you didn't. But you forgot to look over your shoulder while you were doing it.'

Nikita mentally slapped herself for the second time that day.

'Clint Barton.' She muttered.

Fury nodded.

Nikita was furious. She felt betrayed. _Silly, _she chided herself, _of course he told on you. It's his job. Did you think he was going to be a loyal friend? Stupid._

'Anyway,' Fury continued, 'as you read my secret files, I take it you know about the Avengers Initiative.'

Nikita's jaw dropped. 'Don't tell me you're going to…'

Fury nodded. 'It's our only hope. And you're going to help me.'

Nikita wondered if Maria Hill would intercept her if she tried to make a run for it.

She did.


	5. Chapter 5

**5.**

_**Halloo again. Here's another chapter, once I get another 2 reviews I shall update again. **____** Please feel free to chip in with any ideas, as any suggestions would be appreciated! I own nothing except Nikita Romanoff.**_

'Ouch!'

Nikita winced and flapped ineffectually at the first-aid person.

'Hold still.' He told her wearily, for the hundredth time. 'This is a deep cut. I need to clean the blood out.'

Nikita sighed and tried not to flinch as he dabbed again at the gash along her hairline. She'd only noticed the cut when the blood started to drip into her eyes; it hadn't hurt till then. No doubt she'd done it on one of the occasions when she'd banged her head on various solid objects. Like a wall, or a ladder, or a metal hole cover.

'Better?' a man's voice came from behind her. Nikita tried to turn to see who it was, only to be yanked back into position by the long-suffering first-aider.

'You've been in the wars.' The man chuckled. 'My name's Phil Coulson, I've seen you around.'

The first-aider finally finished, and Nikita swivelled round to see who was addressing her. She did indeed recognize Phil by sight, and Clint and Erik spoke highly of him. He seemed a cheerful man, well liked by most of the team.

'That looks nasty.' He said, pointed at Nikita's cut.

'It looks worse than it is.'

'I doubt it. Anyway, I came to see if you've managed to contact your sister yet.'

Nikita sighed. 'No. I've tried four…no, five times. It's no use.'

'Hmm.' Phil looked thoughtful. 'I've got an idea. Give me your phone.'

Nikita handed him her mobile and looked over his shoulder as he dialled. She didn't recognize the number.

Someone answered on the second ring, a gruff male voice.

'Hello?'

'I would like to speak to Helena Kardeshia please.' Phil said. He caught Nikita's questioning look and smiled.

Instead of Natasha, she heard another man's voice. He began speaking in Russian, but Phil interrupted him immediately and told him that they had missiles pointed at their location, '…if you don't put the girl on the phone I will blow up the block before you make the lobby.'

Nikita raised an eyebrow. _Nice bluff._ Natasha immediately came to the phone.

'We need you to come in.' Phil told her.

'What, are you kidding? I'm working.'

'This takes precedence.'

'I'm in the middle of an interrogation. This _moron_ is giving me everything.'

Nikita grinned, imagining the confusion Natasha was probably causing.

'Look, you can't pull me out of this right now.'

'Natasha, Barton's been compromised.'

There was silence, then, 'Let me put you on hold.'

A series of bumps, crashes and yelps of pain could be heard from the phone. Phil waited patiently.

'Where's Barton now? Natasha asked again. Nikita noted a barely detectable note of concern in her voice, which she guessed Phil had also noticed.

'We don't know.'

'But he's alive?'

'We think so. I'll brief you when you get back. But first you need to talk to the big guy.'

Nikita looked sharply at Phil.

'Coulson, you know that Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me.'

Nikita caught Phil's eye. She knew it wasn't Tony Stark Phil was talking about.

'I've got Stark. You get the _big_ guy.'

'What about me?' Nikita asked, once Phil had hung up. 'You're going to the Helicarrier,' Phil told her. 'There's an excellent laboratory there, so you can concentrate on your work. By the sounds of it you'll be getting some help, if we can convince Dr Banner and Tony Stark to give us a hand.'

'Dr Banner?' Nikita felt slightly nervous.

'Yes. I don't need to tell you not to get on his nerves.'

'No. I will be my least irritating self.'

'Please do, for all our sakes.' Phil grinned at her. 'Get Hill to show you around when you get there. It's huge.'

'I'm sure she'll be delighted. Oh, by the way, did anyone retrieve Erik's laptop from the lab before it blew?'

Phil thought for moment. 'No, I don't think so.'

'So it was destroyed?'

'No, Hill said Dr Selvig was carrying some things when he escaped, and I think his laptop was there.'

'Right. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some hacking to do.'

Erik Selvig banged his keyboard in frustration.

'What is it?' Loki asked impatiently.

'I can't access my files.' Erik grunted, angrily tapping keys. 'I have information on here which I need to get to if I've got to tinker with the Tesseract like you want. She's hacked into my hard drive – how she's done that, I do not know – and scrambled everything. I can't…she's used some sort of code.'

'She..?' Loki frowned. 'I take it you mean the tiny one?'

'Who's the tiny one?' Clint asked mechanically.

'Nikita Romanoff,' Erik answered.

'She certainly is small, even for a human.' Loki explained.

'I think she's a teensy bit sensitive about her height.' Erik chipped in.

'Can't you crack her codes?' Clint asked. Erik shook his head. 'No…yes…maybe. I don't know. Possibly I could, but it's going to take days, weeks, even. I can't make any promises.'

'Hmm.' Loki mused. 'Then it seems that the quickest solution is to fetch the tiny one and bring her over here.'

'Maybe not,' Clint said, 'She will likely be taken to the Helicarrier.'

'Ah, in which case I'll be meeting up with her very soon.' Loki smiled happily. 'Right. We need to go to Stuttgart. Shall we get a move on?'

Nikita ran her hands through her hair and groaned. It was no good. She'd trawled through all of Erik's research again and again and again and still she was no further forward. It made no more sense than it had before Loki's arrival. All she knew was that it was definitely a doorway through space. She didn't know where to, or how to access it, or even if it could be accessed from this side. She didn't understand its properties. She guessed that Loki's stick thingy had power derived from the cube, but she couldn't prove it, and didn't know how. And she wasn't likely to find out any of this because they didn't have the cube here.

Nikita slumped over, head in her hands.

'Dr Romanoff!' Maria Hill's sharp voice cut roughly into her thoughts. Nikita looked up to see the agent striding across the crowded room towards her.

'Dr Romanoff, you were supposed to report to me over an hour ago. Why didn't you?' Maria demanded.

'Sorry, I lost track of time.' Nikita mumbled.

'Doing what?' Maria glanced at the laptop screen. 'You've had days and days to work on Dr Selvig's research. Don't tell me you still haven't made any progress.'

Nikita gritted her teeth. 'How can I? We're worse off than we were before Loki came, because now we don't even have the Cube. Our information on the cube was sketchy at best in the first place.'

'Loki's arrival confirms that the Cube is indeed a doorway through space.'

'Yeah, we sort of knew that anyway, and that doesn't help much.'

'His weapon derives its power from the Cube.'

'Knew that too. The problem, as you've no doubt noticed, is that we don't have the glow stick of destiny here either.'

'Your problem, _Doctor _Romanoff, is that you just aren't good enough.'

Nikita ignored her and resumed typing. Irritated, Maria reached over and slammed down the laptop lid, very nearly catching Nikita's fingers in it.

'Hey!' Nikita yelped in protest.

'I'm sure once Mr Stark and Dr Banner get here we'll make some real progress. Then I suppose Director Fury will realise he's made a big mistake bringing you here. That's if he doesn't know it already.' Maria added spitefully. She turned on her heel and strode off.

Tears of rage and frustration pricked at Nikita's eyes at the injustice of it all. What on earth did they want her to do?

Maria Hill nearly collided with someone as she strode out the door. When she saw who it was, she coloured, mumbled an apology and walked off as fast as she could.


	6. Chapter 6

**6.**

_**Well, thank you for the reviews. A few more would be truly lovely. OK, just to make things slightly interesting, I'd like some suggestions as to who Nikita is going to end up with, because I haven't exactly decided who it's going to be yet. So leave a review saying who you'd like it to be and I'll see which one is the most popular. Enjoy.**_

'Weird.' Natasha thought, staring at Maria's rapidly retreating back. Then she turned and looked across the laboratory, and saw Nikita looking across the room at her. She saw the expression on her little sister's face, and realised why Maria had made such a speedy exit.

'All right, Kita?' Natasha asked brightly.

'Mm, yeah, fine. You?' Nikita replied vaguely.

'Fine. Something tells me you and Maria Hill aren't best buddies.'

Nikita snorted. 'What gave it away?'

'You know why that is, don't you?'

'No.'

'You and Clint get on. She's always had a thing for him, and he can't stand her. Pathetic, really.'

'Is she like that with you?'

'No, she wouldn't dare. She learnt I don't like being messed with. She'll learn that with you too. So what's going on here?' Natasha indicated the laptop. 'C'mon. Blind me with science.'

'Nothing's going on.' Nikita laughed bitterly. 'I've hit a dead end. There's no point me being here really.'

'Fury just told me you managed to block Erik Selvig from getting into his own files. He was impressed. And it was you who got that memory stick in the first place.'

'Yeah.' Nikita managed a small smile. She wondered if she should tell Natasha about how much she missed Clint. She decided against it. Natasha was probably missing Clint too, and wouldn't want to hear more about how much he was missed.

'Anyway, Dr Banner's looking forward to meeting you. You're going to be working with him.'

Nikita looked up, eyes wide.

'Oh yeah,' Natasha laughed at her face. 'Don't worry. You're as good as manipulating people as I am. You'll be fine. Come on, I'll take you to meet him. Bring the memory stick.'

'At least this way I get to have a lab to myself,' Nikita mumbled, obediently scuttling after her sister.

'I think you've gotten taller,' Natasha told her kindly.

'Liar.' Nikita giggled. 'But thanks anyway.'

Dr Bruce Banner was definitely not what Nikita expected. He was quiet and gentle, and very eager to talk. She noticed immediately that the atmosphere was frosty between him and Natasha. _Ah well,_ she thought, _I suppose some people don't enjoy being played with like a marionette._ And Natasha did tend to play with people like marionettes.

'Maybe you can make more out of this than I can,' Nikita sighed, fiddling with the memory stick.

'I doubt it,' Banner replied. 'Without the cube, there's nothing we can do. But I think I can find the cube.'

'How?'

'The gamma radiation. I can trace it.'

'How can I help?'

Nikita was glad to have a friend again. Over the last few days, she'd been surrounded by people, but the loneliest she could remember being. Erik and Clint had been sorely missed.

'Who else is coming?' Banner asked.

'Tony Stark and some bloke called Steve Rogers.'

Banner burst into laughter.

'What?' Nikita asked, surprised.

'_Some bloke_…you haven't heard of Steve Rogers? Captain America?'

'No.'

'He was huge! Although, it was a little before your time, the 1940s.'

Nikita snickered. 'A little bit. Don't forget, I was born in Russia and brought up in London.'

'True. I've never met Tony Stark.'

'Me neither. But according to Natasha, he's a massive pain in the backside.'

'How would she know?'

'Oh, um, I'm not really supposed to tell you.'

'Ah.'

'I'm not really supposed to know.'

Bruce Banner didn't seem to get tired, but all of a sudden Nikita felt truly exhausted. She'd barely slept for days. Bruce finally insisted she rest, and he propelled her to an empty cabin.

'I'm not tired! Honest!'

'Sure you're not.'

'I'm waiting on those test results.'

'I'll sort them out. I'll wake you if anything happens, OK? But trust me, don't think you'll be missing anything.'

She fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

Nikita woke sometime later, and groggily dragged herself out into a corridor.

She leant against a wall, yawning and rubbing her eyes, and watched people scurrying to and fro. In the middle of it all there was a man just standing there looking confused. Nikita quickly sized him up. He was very tall, and even through his leather jacket she could see he was very strongly built. His haircut and the way he stood to attention suggested he was a military man. _Typical soldier, _Nikita thought. _He needs his orders. Needs someone to tell him what to do. No initiative. Not like Clint, he always thinks outside the box. Although considering he's now working against us, that might not be such a good thing._

The man looked so vulnerable and lost, standing there looking helplessly around, Nikita felt sorry for him. He clearly didn't fit in here. Neither did she.

She crossed the room, weaving her way between busy (tall!) people.

'Are you lost?' she asked, grinning.

Steve Rogers looked down at the tiny red-haired girl approaching him, and felt a flood of relief that someone was talking to him.

''Fraid so, Ma'am.'

Nikita snorted. Ma'am indeed.

'I'm Nikita Romanoff. Where do you need to be?'

'Romanoff? Any relation to the Miss Romanoff I met on the way here?'

'Natasha? Yes, she's my sister.'

'My name's Steve Rogers.'

He waited for her realisation of who he was.

'Steve Rogers? Hmm, sounds familiar…sorry, I'm terrible with names. Anyway, where was it you wanted to go?'

'Well, I'm not quite sure, Ma'am. I'm looking for Nick Fury.'

'He'll probably be on the bridge. I'll take you there.'

'I haven't quite learnt my way around yet,' Steve said, following Nikita as she expertly threaded her way through a network of corridors and laboratories. 'I've only been here a coupla days.'

'Really? Me too.'

'I guess you learn quicker than me.'

'Right, here we go.' Nikita stopped outside glass doors. People were milling around inside, tapping at computers (one man appeared to be playing some sort of game).

'There's Nick Fury.' Nikita pointed. She noticed that Bruce Banner and Natasha was

there too, along with a dark-haired, bearded man she presumed was Tony Stark. Natasha caught her eye, and Nikita guessed that something was up.

'Thanks Ma'am.' Steve smiled. 'I, um, hope I'll see you around.'

'Probably. And don't call me ma'am.'


	7. Chapter 7

**7. **

_**I own nothing**_**. **_**Except Nikita, who is my character.**_

'Yes, it is.'

'No, it's not.'

'It is.'

'It isn't.'

'It is!'

'It isn't!'

Bruce Banner groaned inwardly. They were at it again. Tony Stark and Nikita did not seem to be getting on, particularly after Tony discovered that Nikita was in fact related to Natasha Romanoff. Bruce would have loved to know what had gone on there, but he had a feeling he wouldn't get an answer out of Nikita or Tony, and asking Natasha would be sheer suicide. Working with the two of them was a nightmare.

'You two are getting my blood pressure up.' Bruce called. That quietened them down. Truth be told, they weren't annoying him to a dangerous level; it was more amusing than anything. Still, he'd noticed various agents pacing around, eyeing him anxiously while Tony and Nikita were having their little disagreements. Natasha had more than once pointedly suggested he "remove himself from this environment".

'Oh, c'mon, that line's getting old.' He'd snapped on the last occasion. 'Irritating they may be, but I'd rather listen to Tony and Nik than be anywhere else here.'

'Ooh, ooh, are you going to lose it?' Tony inquired hopefully, prodding Bruce with a pencil.

'You're such a child!' Nikita grabbed the pencil and threw it across the room.

'Wow, Nik, your face has gone the same colour as your hair.'

'Original. Never heard _that_ one before.'

'Yeah, and I bet you've heard it a _lot_.'

Nikita was about to retort, but Natasha silenced her with a look. Tony sniggered. 'That's right, Nik, do what your big sister tells you.'

Nikita waited till her sister was gone then threw a stapler at Tony.

'What? I can't believe you haven't told me this!' Nikita shouted. Natasha shifted awkwardly. 'I'm sorry, Kita. I…well, you know now.'

'Yes, but I didn't hear it from you! Bruce told me just now that he saw Loki being taken to the secure room. I thought you said you'd keep me up to date with what was going on here.'

'I didn't think it was…'

'Didn't think it was what? Didn't think it was important?'

'It's not like you can go and talk to him. Fury's been very clear on that point. Authorised personnel _only_. You're new assignment is to assist Dr Banner and Mr Stark, and,' she lowered her voice, 'try and keep Dr Banner calm.'

Nikita rolled her eyes. 'I don't think he needs my help. I really do think Bruce has got his…_problems_…under control.'

'Well, I don't, and neither does Fury.'

'Whatever.' Nikita shrugged.

'They didn't tell you?' Bruce looked surprised. Nikita shook her head. 'Nope. You're the first person to tell me about Loki. Natasha convinced me to come here because she promised she'd keep me up to date with what was going on.'

'She's a liar.' Tony said, casually bouncing a small rubber ball off the glass.

'Excuse me?' Nikita growled. 'And don't do that, you'll break the glass.'

'Doubt it, its bullet proof. You heard.'

'Natasha wouldn't lie to me.'

Tony stopped bouncing the ball and raised his eyebrows at her.

'She didn't _lie_! She just…'

'…Failed to tell you the truth?' Tony suggested. Nikita said nothing. He resumed bouncing the ball. Bruce slid behind a desk in the corner and pretended to be invisible. For a minute or two the only sound was the rubber ball bouncing off the glass.

'I think that was pretty cruel of her.' Tony broke the silence. Nikita looked sharply at him to see if he was being sarcastic. His face was blank, and he never took his eyes off the ball.

'Yes.' Nikita replied quietly. She wasn't used to Tony being sympathetic.

'What _I_ want to know,' Tony caught the ball and jumped out of his seat, 'is what Fury is _really_ up to.'

'What do you mean?' Nikita asked curiously.

'I mean, have you _seen_ Loki's interview tape thingy?'

'Yes, why?'

'He said, "A warm light for all mankind to share".'

'In reference to the cube. So?'

'He means a renewable energy source.'

'_Yes_, I know.'

'You really think that's what Fury wants it for?'

Nikita hesitated. She remembered clearly her initial feelings about Fury's intentions for the cube. What she had seen on his computer files, when she'd hacked into them earlier, had only confirmed that.

'No.' she responded after a while.

'Me neither. If that's what he wanted it for, why didn't anyone call me in to work on it?'

'Because no one here likes you?'

'Ha ha. You're funny. Seriously, I'm the leading…well, the _only_…person in this field right now. This would be right up my street! Plus I've got the finances to make it work if need be.'

'Good point.' Nikita conceded.

'I want to find out what's going on. Once the bugs I planted in Fury's computers finish hacking his files, we should have all of his dirty secrets. And I'm sure there'll be plenty of them.'

Nikita wrestled with herself again. She could tell Tony what she knew, that would be the right thing to do. But on the other hand, she didn't trust Tony. She didn't trust Fury. And after today, she didn't trust Natasha. Yes, it was best to keep information like this close. Tony would find out anyway. She would just have to look suitably surprised when he broke the news of Fury's plans. She remained oblivious to Tony and Steve Roger's argument.

Steve collared Nikita outside of the lab. 'You didn't seem to be paying much attention in there.' He said.

'Erm, no, I tend to switch off when Tony speaks.'

Steve snorted. 'Very wise, ma'am.'

_Ma'am again!_

'So…' he hesitated, 'what do you think?'

Nikita fidgeted. 'About…what?'

'About Fury.'

'Oh, that. Yeah, I don't know. All I'd say is I wouldn't trust Fury as far I'd throw him.'

'Really?' Steve chewed his lip. 'Maybe I should check it out.'

'Maybe you should.' Nikita dodged around him and darted down the corridor. For some reason, she found it hard to lie to Steve.

'Nik,' Phil Coulson stuck his head around the door. 'We found a stowaway.'

Everyone looked up in surprise.

'How…?' Tony asked, shocked.

'I don't know. But he's asking for you, Nik.'

Before she could reply, a commotion came from the corridor behind Phil. 'Hey…' he began, before he was elbowed roughly out of the way by a tall, dishevelled, dark-haired man who stepped into the lab.

'Moron.' He muttered under his breath. He looked around, and his eyes fell on Nikita, stood frozen by her desk. 'Ah, Nikita. I've been looking all over for you. You are hard to find.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

'You…' Nikita began hoarsely, and then she stopped.

Then she fainted.


	8. Chapter 8

**8.**

Bruce Banner caught Nikita before she hit the ground. Coulson and half a dozen black suits pounced on the intruder, who struggled and protested profusely. Bruce knelt on the floor, supporting Nikita's head on his lap, as he tried to revive her.

'A little help?' he called to Tony.

'Oh, sure.' Tony grabbed a beaker of water and threw it straight in Nikita's face. That did the trick. She jolted upright, coughing and spluttering, wiping water out of her eyes. Tony promptly emptied a second beaker of water over her head.

'Tony!' Bruce shouted.

'Sorry,' Tony smirked. 'Just checking she was properly awake.'

Nikita glowered at Tony as she struggled to her feet, and faced the stranger. 'You…you're supposed to be dead!' she gasped.

'Who do you think it is? Ex-boyfriend?' Bruce ventured doubtfully. Tony shook his head.

'Brother, I'd say.'

'They don't look alike in the slightest!'

'Look at the eyes. They're the same colour, well, her left one, anyway. They've got a similar look about them, the way they stand, the smugness, the way he walked in here like he owns the place…yeah, they're related.'

Nikita was stood close to the stranger. _It looks like she's about to hug him._ Bruce thought. He was wrong. Nikita ruined the moment by delivering a strong left hook to the man's face.

'Ouch.' Tony winced. Judging by the look of shock on the intruder's face, he hadn't been expecting it either.

'You're supposed to be dead!' Nikita shouted again. 'We had a funeral! I cried for you! We all did. And now you waltz in here, acting like nothing's happened!'

The man was now sitting on the floor, rubbing his cheek in a dazed manner. 'I…I'm sorry, Nicky,' he replied, looking uncomfortable. He had a very deep voice. 'I had thought you would have noticed, though, even if Mycroft didn't.'

'Notice what!'

'That I faked my death.'

Nikita gave a short, mirthless laugh. 'Obviously. How?'

'I'll tell you sometime. I had my reasons, Nicky, believe me!'

'Why should I? I'll bet you just hid and watched us all mourn for you. I bet you thought it was hilarious!'

'I didn't think that for one moment and you know it.'

There was silence. Nikita knew there was a ring of truth in her brother's words. Still, she felt sure he couldn't possibly know the hurt his loss had caused. Coulson and the black suits, having decided the intruder wasn't a real, immediate threat, melted into the background a little. Bruce fidgeted awkwardly. Tony cleared his throat. 'So…ahem…who's our...' he hesitated, '…guest?'

Nikita slowly turned to face them. 'This is my brother,'

(Tony shot a quick, triumphant glance at Bruce.)

'His name is Sherlock Holmes.'

'What exactly is going on here?'

Nikita and Sherlock were sitting at a table. An awkward silence prevailed.

Nikita shrugged by way of answer.

Sherlock raised an eyebrow. 'That's _not_ an answer.'

'You're the genius. You figure it out. What I want to know is how you got on board. This thing is probably more secure than the White House.'

Sherlock grinned. 'I know. And I got in there too.'

'Why did you…'

Nikita was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. It was Steve. 'I got something you might want to see, ma'am.'

Sherlock snorted. 'Ma'am indeed.'

Steve glared. Nikita got up and followed him away from the table.

'I met him earlier,' Steve explained, nodding in Sherlock's direction. 'He's got to be the rudest man I've ever met.'

'Really? So he's just being wandering round?'

'Yeah. Do you know who he is?'

'He's my brother.'

Steve went red. 'O-oh, sorry, ma'am, I didn't realise he was your brother.'

'It's OK. He _is_ the rudest man you'll ever meet. Probably the cleverest too.'

Steve laughed. 'I really doubt that, ma'am.'

'I don't. Really, stop calling me "ma'am". It's getting annoying. I have a name to be used for that very purpose.'

Tony gazed thoughtfully at his computer monitor. 'What _is _phase two?' he asked.

Nick Fury stiffened. Then they heard a _clang_ from the other end of the room. Steve had thrown a large, heavy, unfamiliar-looking weapon on the table. Fury immediately launched into an explanation.

'I'm sorry, Nick,' Tony interrupted, swinging a screen around for the whole room to see, 'what were you lying?'

Nikita restrained a smile.

Natasha and a blond-haired man that Nikita guessed was Thor, Loki's brother, burst into the room. Natasha tried to convince Bruce to leave, but he wasn't having any of it. Nikita noticed that he was getting tense and angry, and she felt a twinge of worry.

'I want to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to make weapons of mass destruction.' Bruce demanded.

'Yes, and I want to know why Nikita Romanoff doesn't look surprised at any of this.' Tony chipped in.

Bruce turned to look at her in surprise. 'You knew about this?'

'No…well, yes…' Nikita stuttered.

Bruce looked hurt, and Nikita felt bad. They had no time to say more, because suddenly everyone started to talk loudly at once. Nikita said nothing. _This is what he wants._ A tiny voice in her head whispered. _He wants you to turn against each other._

She opened her mouth to say something, only to find that the room had fallen deadly silent. Bruce Banner was standing in the middle of the room, clutching Loki's sceptre.

All of sudden he seemed to notice where he was and what he was holding. The shock and confusion on his face tugged at Nikita's heartstrings.

They had no time for discussion, as a second d later a huge explosion rocked the craft. Bruce and Natasha disappeared, and Nikita found herself at the other end of the room, with blood dripping down the side of her face (again!) and covered with broken glass.

'Ow…' She gasped, wincing as she tried to move.

'Nik?' Tony shouted across the room.

'I'm OK.' She managed to reply. 'I think you'd better get your suit on.'

'Dr Romanoff,' Nick Fury thrust a walkie-talkie at her. 'I need you to get down to the lower third engine room. Rogers and Stark are working on fixing that engine, but there's some internal damage I need you to sort out. Grab some people and get it fixed. If we lose one more engine…'

'I know,' Nikita groaned, heaving herself onto her knees. 'We drop.'

'Stay in contact,' Fury instructed, indicating the walkie-talkie.

Nikita raced down towards the engine room, with six other engineers in tow. She stopped dead in her tracks as a blood curdling roar echoed down from what sounded like one of the hangar bays. _Bruce. _She thought with a stab of fear. _He's lost it. And Natasha's still with him._


	9. Chapter 9

**9.**

**Hellooo there. I'm sorry for the delay; my computer's been playing silly beggars. I hate** **technology. However, I'm back, and more chapters will be forthcoming, so please continue with all your lovely, lovely reviews. **

Nikita raced down towards the lower third engine room, gesturing a couple of junior engineers to follow, while simultaneously attempting to secure the walkie-talkie to her belt. The roars, shouting and general mayhem became quieter the further down they went, but she knew it was still there. Bruce was still up there causing trouble. Big trouble. And no inconsiderable amount of damage.

'Wait for me!'

An annoyingly familiar figure elbowed his way through the engineers to get to Nikita.

'Get _out_ of my way! Yes, I _am _an engineer!'

'No you're not! Go away, Sherlock!' Nikita snapped. 'I don't need your help.'

'And how would you know?'

'It may surprise you to know I don't _always_ need my big brother to sort out my problems for me.'

'Not _always_, no. Anyway, how hard can it be, this engineering lark?'

Nikita rolled her eyes and tried to ignore him. She quickly directed the engineers to various departments.

'Where are we going?' Sherlock persisted.

'The main control room.' Nikita answered briefly. Suddenly she heard the Hulk roar somewhere above her, followed by ominous clanging and breaking of metal. _Oh dear._

They burst into the control room. It looked a mess, with shattered glass and debris covering the floor, cables hanging from the ceiling spouting sparks, writhing like snakes. However Nikita ascertained in her first quick glance around the room that there was no bad damage. Nothing she couldn't fix.

'Right, Sherly.'

'I asked you not to call me that.'

'I know. Anyway, _Sherly_, you wanted to help, you try and reattach _those_ cables,' she pointed at a tangled mass of cables and tubes at the centre of the ceiling, 'I'm going to try and get the main control board working. If we can fix this the engine will work well enough for now.'

'What about the external engine?' Sherlock asked breathlessly, as he jumped to try and reach the cables.

'Tony and Steve are going out there. You'll need a stepladder to reach those. There's one in the corner.'

'Oh, the scientist and the soldier. Unlikely friends, don't you think?'

'They're not friends. Look out!'

The ship lurched and Sherlock wobbled dangerously on the rickety stepladder. He somehow regained his balance and grinned wickedly at Nikita.

After that they worked in silence. One by one, the other engineers contacted Nikita on the walkie-talkie to inform her that their section was sufficiently fixed. Finally, Nikita stepped back from the control board. 'Done.' She announced. 'Now we're just waiting on Steve and Tony to get the external engine fixed.'

'Did you hear that noise?' Sherlock paused, still perched on the stepladder.

'I don't hear anyth...' Nikita was cut off by a horrible screeching scraping noise as the first engine cut out, and the ship dropped sharply. Sherlock and the stepladder tipped over together. His head hit the floor with an audible _thump_.

'Sherlock!' Nikita cried, but the ship lurched to the left, and she lost her balance and fell on her back, and slid helplessly and gracelessly across the floor. Loose wires and bits of equipment slid along the floor. They were on a wide platform about fifty feet above the main floor. Railings surrounded the platform, but you could easily slip underneath. Nikita clutched wildly at them, but somehow slid right under the lowest railing and hung precariously over the drop.

'Sherly,' she gasped, 'now would be a good time for you to do another miracle.'

It wasn't happening. Sherlock was still lying comatose where he'd fallen.

_Great. Fat lot of good _he's_ going to be. I'm about to fall to my death. That's ironic. Even if I don't, I'll probably die when this ship hits the ground if they don't get that stupid _engine_ working._

As if on cue, the engine shuddered and rattled and roared back into life. _Nice one, Tony._ Nikita didn't have long to relax. The whole craft shook as it levelled out, and she lost her grip on the railings. Luckily, there was a narrow walkway just underneath the platform. Nikita fell about six feet, and managed to land _on_ the railings. She quickly slid onto the walkway and lay there, badly winded. There was an ominous, throbbing pain in her side where she'd hit the metal railing.

Her walkie-talkie buzzed. Nikita groaned. 'This had better be good.'

'Nikita, it's me.' It was Natasha. Her voice sounded hoarse and strained.

'Are you OK? You sound...bad. Are you hurt? I heard an explosion earlier, were you in that? And Bruce; is he...'

'Dr Banner is no longer on board.'

'_WHAT_?'

'It's a long story, I'll explain later. Are you still in the engine room?'

'Yeah, why?'

'Get out. Now.'

'I can't. I fell from the main control platform; I'm on some sort of walkway underneath. I'm...not actually sure where I am.'

'It's OK. I know where you mean. Can you move?'

Nikita gingerly sat up, wincing at the pain. 'Sort of. I think I've maybe broken a rib or two.'

'Get out of there. I'm coming.'

'Why?'

'Barton's here. He's heading your way.'

'Oh, goody. This day just keeps getting better.'


	10. Chapter 10

**10. **

_Nikita dragged herself to her feet and leaned against the railings, grimacing at the pain. Ow. That really hurts. Well, better get moving before Clint finds me and puts an arrow in me. She started to_ limp away and immediately froze as an arrow thudded into a wooden plank not inches away from head. _Oops. Too late._ Nikita gave a quiet, involuntary shriek. But if Clint was shooting at her, she had no time to lose. She forced herself to ignore the pain and sprinted best she could for cover. She reached a large round tank containing goodness knows what and hid behind it, gasping for breath. Where on earth was he? She risked a swift glance back at the walkway she'd just come from. Not a sign of life.

_Great. Now what? Go back? No good. That's probably where he is. Go forward? Well, it's a pretty long sprint from here to the exit. I can hardly walk, certainly can't run very fast. He'll pick me off before I get halfway. I can hardly jump over the railings either side. So it looks like I'm going to have to stay here and pray for a miracle. Or Natasha._ _Or just pray Clint won't actually kill me. _That didn't seem very likely. Clint had had a big hand in crippling the ship, and already killed a number of agents. Why would he hesitate to kill her?

Sherlock opened bleary eyes. Ow. His head hurt, a lot. He shakily raised himself on one elbow, and gingerly felt the back of his head, then looked at his hand. Blood. Fortunately there didn't seem to be too much of his. Sherlock's vision cleared, and he looked around for Nikita. She was nowhere to be seen. Something had obviously happened. The last thing he remembered was the floor disappearing from under him and tumbling to the ground off the stepladder. Everything seemed to fine now, but where was she? Sherlock got to his feet and immediately sat down heavily again. The room was spinning, and he felt uncharacteristically confused and out of control.

Footsteps. He stiffened. _Much too heavy to be Nikita's. Army boots, I'd guess. Purposeful, no hesitation. He – it is male, of course – knows exactly where he's going and what he's coming for. Something important has just occurred, although unfortunately I was unconscious and missed it. Inconvenient, to say the least. Yet he isn't calling out to see if anyone's here, or if we are alright, as I imagine any other member of staff on board would do. Hm. In my current state, it might be best to hide._

Sherlock proceeded to do just that. He stumbled to his feet again, and ducked out of sight behind one of the control boards. A man appeared, and stopped in the middle of the room. He looked around, and Sherlock noticed with a chill that his eyes were an icy, unnatural shade of blue. His face was completely blank and impassive. He was clearly a soldier, and Sherlock noticed with surprise he carried a bow and a full quiver of arrows. His eyes danced over where Sherlock was hiding, and then he turned and looked over the railings.

Those few extra seconds had given Sherlock more or less the time he needed to recover. However it seemed best to stay where he was for now. Sherlock watched as the man focused on something below them. Then he drew out an arrow, and swiftly fitted it to the bow. _An expert,_ Sherlock thought. The man didn't immediately fire. A normal man would have missed it, but Sherlock saw an almost imperceptible shake in his left hand, the one holding the string. _He doesn't want to do it._ _Something is forcing him to do it._ The inward battle was over in seconds. The arrow left the bow so fast Sherlock barely saw it. He did see the man's face though. A split-seconds' emotion flashed over his face. Relief. _Whatever he's shooting at,_ Sherlock thought, _he's missed._

He was right. Down on the hidden walkway beneath them, someone gave a small, hastily smothered shriek. Sherlock's blood ran cold. It was Nikita. There was no time to be lost. The man was already fitting another arrow into his bow. The slight tremor in his hand that had caused him to miss before was gone now. Sherlock stepped out of his hiding place and without a second thought ran towards the man.

Clint Barton never saw the man in the funny coat until he barrelled into him at full speed, knocking them both to the floor, sending both the arrow and the bow sliding across the floor, well out of reach.

Clint struck out with his elbow, striking Sherlock on the chin sufficiently hard to knock him back. Clint struggled to his feet, eyes on his bow. This weird stranger – he certainly wasn't anyone to worry about – wasn't a priority. Nikita was. She had to be taken out. Loki had told him to.

He'd expected him to be knocked out, at least dazed, but Sherlock shook his head and tackled him to the floor again. Clint struggled free again, and in the millisecond he took his eyes of Sherlock, found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. His gun. Poker-faced, Clint reached for his own gun. As he'd expected, it wasn't there. Sherlock grinned. 'Yes, this is yours. Tell me, why didn't you want to shoot Nikita Romanoff? I'm guessing those were your orders.'

Sherlock underestimated the quickness of the other man. Quick as lightening, Clint grabbed Sherlock's wrist and twisted. Sherlock yelped with pain and surprise and dropped the gun. Clint made a grab for it, but in doing so loosened his grip on Sherlock's wrist. Sherlock yanked his hand out of Clint's grip, and kicked the gun over the side of the platform.

A gun dropped in front of Nikita as she sheltered behind the tank. _Ooh,_ she thought. _That'll be handy._

Sherlock could feel sweat dripping off the tip of his nose. His head was throbbing worse than ever and his vision kept blurring. Clint sensed his enemy's disadvantage. He used the opportunity to get a small yet potentially lethal knife from his utility belt. _I'm not doing well, _Sherlock thought wearily. The room span again. He was vaguely away of Clint pushing him backward. He fell back and hit his head (again!) against the hard concrete floor. Clint stood back, breathing heavily. _Good thing he was already wounded, _he thought. Sherlock made one last attempt to get up, but his vision was already dimming. He would pass out any minute now. A dull pain in his side caught his attention. Sherlock gingerly touched the spot. He was bleeding. _Great. I've cracked my head open, possibly sprained my wrist, now I seem to have been stabbed. Marvellous. _Then he lost consciousness.

Once he'd seen his opponent unconscious, Clint returned to the task at hand. Nikita was gone, of course. But it didn't take a brilliant soldier and master tactician (which he was) to work out where she'd gone. He jumped over the side, ruining a perfect landing when his right knee gave way and buckled under him.

'That'll be Sherlock.' Nikita called. She knew there was nowhere she could go. She couldn't escape, and she knew it. Instead she resigned herself and stepped out from her hiding place. 'He's got all sorts of tricks. Lucky for you he was already a bit woozy from that knock to the head.'

'How do you know?' Clint found himself replying mechanically.

'I just do.' Nikita replied briefly, pointing the gun at him.

'Somehow I don't think you'll shoot me.' He said, taking a cautious step forward. Nikita didn't move.

'How do you know?'

Clint smiled woodenly. 'I just do.'

Nikita sighed and lowered the gun. 'It's not loaded.' She threw the useless gun to the side. 'Tell me, what does Loki want to do?'

'You already know.'

'I don't mean with Earth. I mean with you, and Erik, and all the others he's brainwashed. He'll probably kill you, you know.'

Clint said nothing, but continued advancing along the walkway.

'Because then you won't be useful.' Nikita continued. 'So you'll have killed me, and all the others, for absolutely nothing.' She coughed slightly. 'You know, all the people who – ahem – care about you.'

Clint still remained silent, but he stopped walking towards her. His hands clenched and unclenched slowly, and Nikita worked on her advantage.

'Look, Clint, I know Loki's got a hold on you. You've got to fight it. Please.'

Clint lost his momentary struggle. He began walking towards her. 'Did you really think that would stop me killing you?'

Nikita suppressed a smile. 'No.' Her gaze fell on something behind him.

Clint's eyes widened. He spun around, to face Natasha, but she was already too close for him to shoot an arrow at her. The last of her energy, which had been keeping her on her feet, left Nikita, and she sank to the floor, wearily watching them fight.

Natasha watched them drag away the unconscious Clint. Her impulse was to run after him and make sure he was alright, but she had other priorities.

'Kita? You OK?'

'I'm – OUCH – fine. Really. A broken rib or three, nothing a few painkillers won't fix. Talking of painkillers, Clint's going to have the mother of all headaches later.'

'Probably. Presuming we can undo whatever Loki's done to him.' Natasha's walkie-talkie buzzed. She answered it, and the colour drained from her face.

'What?' Nikita's voice sharpened. Suddenly looking tired, Natasha sat down beside her sister.

'Phil's dead.'

'Phil Coulson?'

'Yep. Loki killed him. Loki's escaped, having shot Thor down the emergency ejection shaft –'

'So Thor's dead?'

'We don't know. Banner's gone, he jumped out to attack a plane, and then fell. He might be dead too, we don't know. And...' she sighed, and rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand, 'your brother, Sherlock? He's in a bad way. He took a nasty crack to the back of the head, and Clint must have managed to stab him. He's lost a lot of blood. Fury suggests you get down to the infirmary to see him. They just found him a few minutes ago. Whatever happens, it's over. You know the Avengers thing that Fury was trying to get going? It's finished. Gone. I don't think anything can save us now.'


	11. Chapter 11

**11.**

**Once again, sorry for the delay. My poor, put-upon laptop has again died, which is why it's taken so long to update. This chapter is written and uploaded from a stolen computer. Not literally, I might add. It's my sister's. Just thought I'd say.**

Natasha wanted to run off to see Clint as soon as the paramedics gave the OK. 'They said that the blow to the head might have broken whatever spell Loki had on him.' she told Nikita excitedly. 'He's going to be all right.'

Nikita forced a smile. Clint might be all right. 'But Sherlock isn't.' her voice broke. 'They stopped the bleeding, but he won't wake up.' Natasha slipped an arm around her sister's shoulders, holding her close while she cried.

They both went to see Sherlock. The paramedics had removed his shirt, and Nikita could see the stitches on his chest and stomach, and the bulky white padding taped over the wound on his side. His wrist was in a cast, and he had a nasty-looking black eye. His eyes were closed, his breathing shallow and his face ghostly white, even by his usual pale standards. Nikita burst into tears all over again.

'It's OK, Kita,' Natasha murmured. It's wasn't like her to cry. Ever.

'I've got to tell Mycroft,' Nikita hiccoughed. 'I don't know what to do.'

'What do you mean?'

'I need to stop Loki. This is all this fault.'

'You just work that one out?'

Nikita gingerly sat down at the foot of her brother's bed. 'Sherlock and I were talking, earlier, about the whole Loki problem...'

'What? You told him everything?'

'Well, yes. I wanted his advice. He'd have worked it out anyway.'

'He would not!'

Nikita smiled weakly. 'I forgot. You've never met Sherlock properly, have you? Anyway, we talked, and he just sat for a minute or two, just thinking. Then I had to go...and everything kicked off, you know. But I think he figured it out.'

'Figured what out?' Natasha asked, slightly exasperated. 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'About Loki. How he's going to do it. Ergo, what he's going to do next.'

'That would be useful.' Natasha admitted thoughtfully. 'Too bad he's out for the count.'

'You're right.'

Nikita whipped out a laptop from nowhere and placed it on a table at the foot of Sherlock's bed.

'What are you doing?' Natasha asked curiously.

'Setting up a webcam connection thingy.' she replied absentmindedly. Natasha snorted. 'You can't not from here. It's just not poss...' she stopped. The screen flickered to life, to show an rather shocked, ginger-haired, plumpish man blinking at them. Nikita folded her arms and smiled smugly.

'Nikita?' the man asked. 'Is that you? What on earth do you want? And why have you hijacked my computer?'

Nikita grinned. 'Afternoon, Mycroft.'

Mycroft scratched his head and sighed. He hated his little sister sometimes. 'I understand that you are concerned with the immediate problem facing you,' he said in a strained voice, 'But I'm afraid I am more concerned that my little brother has faked his own death, how I do not know, and that he is on a secret government vessel miles above the ocean.'

'I suppose it is a bit of a shock.' Nikita conceded. 'But Mycroft, please, listen. This guy Loki is going to bring some sort of army here and destroy the entire planet, so please, _concentrate_!'

Mycroft shrugged his shoulders helplessly. 'I don't know what Sherlock worked out. None of it makes sense to me.' He got up and paced around the room. 'This Loki,' he began, after a moment or two, 'he's bringing an army.'

'Yes.'

'Using the Tesseract?'

'Yes.'

'How?'

'Erik Selvig had plans for some kind of enabling device on his laptop. I blocked him from getting into those files for a while, but a few days before the attack here he managed to override me.'

'Once he has set up the device in connection with the Tesseract, could you switch it off?'

'I don't know. Maybe. I've memorized the plans. But the Tesseract is...well, it protects itself. We don't really know how.'

Mycroft smiled wryly. 'You don't know a lot about this Cube, do you?'

Nikita shook her head sadly. 'I'd love to get my hands on it though. I've never seen anything like it.' her expression turned dreamy. 'The things we could learn...' she trailed off into silence, until Natasha nudged her. 'Sorry. Going off on a bit of a tangent. Continue.'

Mycroft sat down again and rested his chin against his interlaced fingers, a sure sign that his brain was going _tick tock tick tock_.

'Loki seems to be a bit of a drama queen.'

'Oh, you've got no idea.' Nikita snorted. 'He wants flowers, parades, a monument built to the skies with his name plastered on it...'

Mycroft slapped the keyboard. Nikita jumped. 'What?'

'Got it.' Mycroft grinned. 'Think about it. Loki doesn't just want to kill you all. He wants...well, recognition. Drama. So where would the best place be for a stage? Somewhere big. Somewhere...well, dramatic.'

Nikita turned to look at Natasha, who snorted, 'Hey, don't ask me!' before turning away. Nikita chewed her lip for a moment, then he eyes lit up. _Ping_. Her eyes met Mycroft's, then she turned to the comotose Sherlock. 'Sherly, you're a _genius_!' she shouted, and ran out of the room.

'What the...' Natasha began, before following her sister. 'Sherlock? Hmph. There's gratitute.' Mycroft grumbled. He fiddled on his computer for a moment or two. 'Eh...Nicky? I can't...you've got to turn off the link from your end...Nicky? Nikita? _Nikita_!'

Nikita collided with Tony Stark as she raced around a corner, her feet skidding on the slippery floor.

'Tony!'

'Nik, suit up!'

'Eh?'

'I mean, get ready! We're going to New York. I've figured it out. Loki will be...'

'Stark Tower. Yes. I know.'

'Tony's face fell. 'What? How...I just figured that out!'

'Me too.'

'How?!'

'I'm clever. Now move. You're in my way.'


End file.
